Senator Paul S. Sarbanes, 72, announced today that he will not seek re-election, ending a political career that spans four decades.

Born in Salisbury, MD, Sarbanes is the son of Greek immigrants. After graduation from Wicomico High School in Salisbury, Sarbanes received an academic and athletic scholarship to Princeton University and was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship that took him to Oxford, England. Upon his return to the States, Sarbanes attended Harvard Law School, graduating in 1960.

In 1966, Sarbanes was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates. During his four years as a State Legislator in Annapolis he served on the Judiciary and the Ways and Means Committees.

In 1970 he was elected to the United States House of Representatives, the first of three terms. While in the House, from 1971-76, Sarbanes served on the House Judiciary Committee, the Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee, and the Select Committee on House Reorganization. It was during his service in the House, in August 1974, that Sarbanes was selected by his Democratic colleagues on the House Watergate Committee to introduce the first Article of Impeachment, for obstruction of justice, against President Richard Nixon.

Elected to the Senate in 1976, Sarbanes was re-elected in 1982, 1988, 1994, and 2000. He serves as the Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, and is a senior member of the Foreign Relations, Budget and Joint Economic Committees.

Sarbanes and his wife, Christine, have three children and six grandchildren.